Emilia Perez (2024) *** Spoiler Alert

 

In the most controversial of this year's Best Picture Oscar nominees, Zoe Saldana plays a Mexican lawyer who takes on an unusual assignment. A ruthless cartel boss hires her to help him transition into a woman, then fake his death so that he can fully disappear into the new identity. The film is in spanish, and did I mention it's a musical?

What's controversial about it? Besides the plot itself, the movie was filmed not in Mexico, but in France, and Mexican audiences have been irked by the poorly-rendered accents. Selena Gomez's spanish is reportedly downright atrocious. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given that French writer/director Jacques Audiard admits he did not study much about Mexico, the film traffics in Speedy Gonzalez-style Mexican stereotypes. (In one song, Emilia's son sings, “You smell like spicy food, spicy, spicy. Mezcal and guacamole.”)

You might think that the LGBTQ community would get behind the movie for starring a trans woman as a trans character, but there is grumbling from that quarter, too. Some feel the movie is a step backwards for trans representation, and I have to say that the story focuses heavily on the surgical/physical aspects of Emilia's transition, telling us little about her inner life. Also, the trans actress in question, Karla Sofia Gascon, has said some things on Twitter that some people don't like, so you know how that goes.

Setting all that aside, is “Emilia Perez” any good? I'd say it has its moments, but definitely is not Best Picture material. The outline of the story is pretty interesting, but the film is executed too shallowly for the subject matter. Some of the songs were good while I was watching, but I could not hum any of them for you now.

So, we have here a spanish-language movie by a French director, nominated for an American Academy Award, making this a truly cosmopolitan film. It features a trans heroine, played by a trans actress. On the other hand, that actress has said some controversial things, and the film has been accused of racial and trans stereotyping. It looks to me like whether you celebrate “Emilia Perez” or criticize it, you can signal how Liberal you are. Which means this thing is probably going to win the Oscar.

3 stars out of 5